I am a big fan of CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). I went through CERT training about 10 years ago and it was some of the best training I have received. It was informative and empowering. I went through the training because I was signed up to be the volunteer Emergency Preparation person at Lakeview Elementary (through the PTSA). While CERT training helped me in that role, it was more about being an asset to the community in the event of a catastrophic event and not becoming a liability.

The concept for CERT training grew out of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake in which untrained volunteers who were willing to undertake rescue and life saving steps in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake saved over 800 people. However, over 100 of these volunteer rescuers lost their lives because they did not have sufficient training to accomplish everything they were attempting. California authorities, visiting Mexico City after the earthquake, saw the potential of having a core of trained volunteers who could respond (without direction) in natural or man-made disasters and save lives while government and other disaster response agencies mobilized an organized response. As of 1993, over 8,000 individuals and 225 teams had been trained in Southern California. The concept proved a great success in saving lives and preserving property following the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In 1994 The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) adopted the program and has started promoting the concept with standardized training nation-wide. FEMA still bases the program on volunteers, but by standardizing the training they feel they can insure a consistent level of training and performance nationwide. Standardized training allows volunteer emergency organizations and government officials from any jurisdiction to be familiar with capabilities and limitations and how to effectively communicate missions to CERT members/volunteers from other jurisdictions.

What is Kirkland CERT?Kirkland's Community Emergency Response Team training is a FEMA-based curriculum designed to teach adults of all ages and abilities how to help themselves, their families, and their neighbors during a disaster when police, fire, and medical services are overwhelmed.The City of Kirkland CERT Program hosts two CERT training courses a year, in the spring and fall. A training course consists of eight 3-hour classes, once a week for eight weeks. Each course ends with a full-scale simulated disaster drill, complete with volunteer “victims”, during which CERTs practice their disaster response skills.CERT Training teaches you to:

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﻿﻿Next Meeting﻿﻿The next meeting of the CHNA will be held:

Tuesday March 12, 2019 7:00 pm*Please note that the default day for meetings is the second Tuesday of the months of September, November, January, March, and May. To be timely, we may call special meetings to discuss topics of major neighborhood interest.​Also note, CHNA does not typically meet during July and August, unless there is a specific immediate topic to share.